Mixing newbies with vets

[WyoLaxer]

The high school age team I'm coaching is having a slight problem.

We have a bunch of players that have been playing all four years my city has had lacrosse and a bunch more who have been playing for a couple of years and have progressed quite well.

Then we have a bunch of guys who picked it up before last season or are new to the team this season.

Thus far we've thrown the newbies right in with the vets. The problem is drills and offensive sets get frequently disrupted by guys throwing bad passes, missing passes and easily turning the ball over while cutting and cradling.

How can we get those guys the practice they need without discouraging them or stunting the growth of our vets?

[Coach MacLax]

Ahh, growing pains! We have the same problem almost every year. What we do is have everyone together for the basic drills and then seperate for the more advanced stuff. It helps of course if you have assistant coaches, otherwise you have to supervise two groups simultaneously. Not ideal, but do-able. During the joint session encourage your more experienced players (captains and others) to be mentors, be positive, be patient. My better players respond to this very well and it actually turns out to be a really cool thing. Then we seperate and do our offensive sets etc. I put newbies in as their own offense. As one or two of them get better, I'll sandwich them in with two better players.

[bwlacrosse3]

We have the same problem, i am a fairly experienced player, we have a blend of experience and really new players(players who started just this year). I am helping them but tutoring them on what to practice at home. Also try taking it easy on them, have the newbies partner up with one experienced player and have each player teach them to get better and better.

[WI_LAX_COACH]

We have the same problem, i am a fairly experienced player, we have a blend of experience and really new players(players who started just this year). I am helping them but tutoring them on what to practice at home. Also try taking it easy on them, have the newbies partner up with one experienced player and have each player teach them to get better and better.
We have a version of this every year. I coach a 3rd and 4th grade team and every year we have 1/2 the kids picking up a stick for the first time. We pair up a newbie and a more experienced player. Once we get to the offense and defense, the newbies tend to be nicely along, skill wise.

[CoachK]

You need to simply put them in positions they'll be successful. Try putting them out there with vets, but matched up against a rookie. Then, while you're watching them go, talk to the other rookies about what they're doing wrong or could have done better. We do it every year with players of all levels. Our O middies go against our D middies, but they also go against each other. I want our guys to have tough match-ups in practice, challenge them, but don't give them more than they can handle.

[WI_LAX_COACH]

You need to simply put them in positions they'll be successful. Try putting them out there with vets, but matched up against a rookie. Then, while you're watching them go, talk to the other rookies about what they're doing wrong or could have done better. We do it every year with players of all levels. Our O middies go against our D middies, but they also go against each other. I want our guys to have tough match-ups in practice, challenge them, but don't give them more than they can handle.
WOW...That's about the best possible way to say it...

[CidLax]

Once upon a time when I was a very new player, we had more experienced players rotating and running the drills with the newer guys, or had new guys run some of the drills separate from the starting lines. We also ran 1hr skills clinics after some practices using a few of the experinced guys to help out. That really helped limit the frustration the experienced guys had dealing with the new guys like me. I really benefited from the instruction, and think it helped the older guys connect in a positive way with newbies rather than just seeing them as a weak link. Kids forget how it felt to be that weak link pretty easily. I think you'll see similar themes in a lot of the responses to this question, the key is mentoring and team building rather than exclusion and frustration.

[spenny]

i often will pull aside players and give them some wall ball drills to do on their own during practice. this really helps the newbies, but teh advanced players also benefit, and since i pull everyone at one time or another, there is no stigma to any individual player

PS, CoachK, very nicely said

[sicknastybeast]

My league has A,B,and C teams. A being the best and C not bad but not as good as A or B. None of our leagues teams are bad there just put together by experience and skills. It helps a lot because C teams are what you guys are saying and are more basic drills getting those kids better. While the A team has more advanced drills getting the kids ready for the next level.

I didn't mention B because it's in between A and C, pretty self explanatory.

Hope this helps

[FlucoDpole]

Good topic. We have this issue as well.
To date,we've put the guys in separate offensive and defensive lines according to their skill level,to force them to work harder and to allow them to build their own squad unity. Unfortunately it doesn't work the veterans enough in scrimmages,so they can tend to get bored. It really forces the newbies to improve their skills however.
I think the mentoring sounds like a good idea for me to implement,particularly in regards to positioning and situational awareness. I find myself micromanaging individual players way too often.

[montylax6]

Just split up into two groups. one with the new kids and one with the vets. eventually they will catch up with a good player to coach ratio.

[gclark94]

One or two practices a week set the new people aside and teach them fundementals. Tell them to practice more at home and give them tips and soon they will not even have to think about catching and throwing.

P.S. I would not start teaching them how to get good woth their offhend for a while.

[spenny]

P.S. I would not start teaching them how to get good woth their offhend for a while.

100% WRONG.

start on the offhand ASAP. the sooner players learn to use their offhand the better off they are.

[Mid21]

Bring them both up at the same time if possible. the stronger hand will obviously gain ability quicker than the other, however, it will still be able to accumulate the ability just at a slower rate.

[laxjunkie]

Always start new players off with their weakhand! It's awkward with both hands in the beginning anyway. To help new players develop their weak hand, have them open their lockers (combo locks included), brush their teeth, talk on the phone, use their computer mouse, eat, ect. with their weak hand.

For practice, my experienced players actually found it beneficial to do partner stickwork with new players. It helps them grab bad passes, help the newbies, and keep them focused instead of zoning out. The newbies have less frustration because they are receiving good passes. We do a lot of combo drills, but also split the players up, especially in team concept drills. Use the experienced players to demo. It has gone a long way to make the experienced players mentors.

For scrimmages, we've done the following: On one team we have our experienced defense (long poles and goalie) and our less experienced offense. On the other team, we have our less experienced defense and our experienced offense. In that way, the offense is going against a similarly matched defense on both sides. Possession evens out, especially as the season goes on.

Non-traditional hotbed areas will have this gap problem for a while. Creativity goes a long way.